What can publishers learn from endeavors like Manifesto Games?

In all likelihood, the only lesson a major publisher is likely to pay attention to is "someone else made a lot of money doing X or Y". We certainly aren't there yet.

What are some of the pitfalls that indie developers need to avoid to stimulate innovation in general?

I think the main thing indie developers need to keep in mind is: Go where the majors don't. There's little point in trying to compete with $15m budgets, so there's little point in developing the sorts of games that the mainstream market still supports--FPS, RTS, racing games, conventional sports games, and the like. But the fact that your budget isn't $15m doesn't matter if you're aiming at an audience that isn't being adequately served by the mainstream market. "Audience" can mean almost anything, of course; games are mainstream now, and just as people interested in a particular topic will read a book or watch a movie on that top, you can get them to play a game on that topic, if you do it right.

Do you think there is innovation going on in the casual games space?

Certainly--some. Most casual game portals and publishers are, as you might expect, primarily interested in games of a type that have already proven commercially successful--but every once in a while, a more creative title slips through. Since development budgets are so much smaller, it's less risky to take a chance on novelty from time to time.

What's the best indie game you've played this year? What made it truly stand out?

I'd have to say PeaceMaker, which is about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's a heart-breaking game, really. You play as either the Palestinian president or the Israeli prime minister, and have to try to keep your own people happy while coming to some kind of understanding with the other side. It's heart-breaking, really--not impossible to win, but very difficult, and quite insightful about the conflict while being quite balanced from a political perspective. It's interesting from a game design perspective for three reasons: First, it shows that a game can be gripping without necessarily being "fun" in the context that people usually use the term when talking about games; second, that it demonstrates how games can grapple with serious issues; and third, its a good example of what I mean when I say that games can be art.

Thanks Greg. To learn more about Manifesto Games, check out www.manifestogames.com .